EMAIL FRAUD- BEWARE
The following are excerpts from a letter I recently received.
Dear Friend,
I presumed that all is well with you and your family. Please let this not be a surprise message to you because i got your contact information from the international directory few weeks ago before i decided to contact you on this magintude and lucrative transaction for our present and future Survival in life. Moreover, i have laid all the solemn trust in you before I decided to disclose this successful & confidential transaction to you. I am the senior Auditor Incharge of Foreign Remittance Unit of our bank and i decided to contact you for this financial transaction worth fifteen Million, United States dollar ($15m) for our present and future success.This is an abandoned fund that belongs to one of our bank foreign customers who died along with his entire family through plane crash few years ago. Meanwhile i was very fortune to come across the deceased file when i was arranging the old and abandoned customers files in other to sign and Submit to the entire bank management for an official re-documentation and audit of the year against 2007 ....
The Internet serves as an excellent tool for communicating, shopping, investing, and advertising. But the Internet is also an excellent tool for fraudsters.
The Internet allows individuals and companies to communicate with a large audience without spending a lot of time, effort, or money. Anyone can reach tens of thousands of people through Internet. It's easy for fraudsters to make their messages look real and credible. But it's nearly impossible for common innocent man to tell the difference between fact and fiction.
Nigerian Letter Fraud
The above excerpts from the letter mailed from Nigeria offers me an opportunity to share a percentage of millions of dollars that the authors are trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. He is requesting me to send information such as my bank name and account numbers and other identifying information.
Law enforcers say that this is part of Nigerian letter frauds . Nigerian letter frauds involve impersonation fraud and sometimes advance fee fraud. The fraud aims at targeting a victim who responds to the letter.
The usual ploys used to target the victims
The author will ask for money that need to be paid for taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria.
Once the victim stops sending money the authors will start using the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances until the victim's assets are taken in their entirety.
How to safeguard yourself?
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Do not reply in any manner to these letters.
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If you know someone who is trapped or corresponding in one of these schemes, encourage that person to contact the Cyber crimes departement as soon as possible.
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Guard your account information carefully.
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